Chapter 56

"Shush!" I said. "Everyone will hear you."
"So?" she said.
I took a deep breath. "Since when did you get so wild?"
She smiled. "Since you left and aren't there to mother me anymore."
I shook my head. "Just watch it with my band members. I have to work with these guys."
She smiled and nodded, and then turned her attention to Wyatt, who was sitting across the aisle. Luckily, I didn't have anything to worry about with him. He had a girlfriend back home.
After a bit, I turned my attention out the window, thinking of Logan; wondering what he was doing, where he was, and when he was going on tour, too. I guessed it was best that I didn't know. My mind wandered back to the last night we shared together. We'd both hoped I was pregnant then, and everything was right in the world. I wasn't, but I guessed that it was just as well, given everything that had happened after. But a part of me wished that I was, regardless of how things turned out between us.
My eyes were closed, but I felt the seat shift beside me. Greer moved over to another seat, and was still talking to Mason. A moment later, the seat shifted beside me again. I let out a deep breath. "Greer, I'm trying to get some sleep."
"Okay," a male said beside me. "Then I won't bother you."
I opened my eyes to see Craig. I let out a deep breath. "What's going on?"
"I just wanted to check on you, to make sure that you're okay." He looked at me, concerned.
I looked out the window. "I'm fine."
"Are you?"
Sudden rage coursed through my body. "Look, Craig! I appreciate your concern, but I really want to keep things professional between us."
His eyes grew wide, and then narrowed. "I thought that maybe we could be friends, but I see that I was mistaken." He got up to leave, but I caught his hand, stopping him.
I looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry," I said, letting out a deep breath as I shook my head to clear it. "I've been under a lot of pressure lately."
He looked at me carefully, and then sat back down beside me. "You deserved better."
"Let's get one thing straight," I said in a firm, low voice. "I don't want to discuss my love life with you."
He shrugged. "Okay. So, as long as we're setting ground rules, anything else?"
I looked out the window once again, watching the scenery pass by. The day was overcast, reflecting my mood. I let out another deep breath, and then turned in my seat to look into his eyes. "Just understand that we're just friends and always will be."
He nodded. "Understand."
"And no talking about my personal life."
"You already said that."
"And and stop creeping up on me!"
We looked at each other and, after a moment, both of us burst out into a fit of laugher.
"Everything will work out," Craig said as he reached out and pat my hand.
I pulled it back. "And don't touch me without permission."
He slowly pulled his hand away and looked into my eyes. "I was only trying to console you."
"Don't."
He looked into my eyes for a moment, as if searching for something, but then looked away. "Okay." Then, he leaned back and closed his eyes. "Is it okay if I sit here?" he asked without opening his eyes.
I closed my eyes. "If you must."
After a beat, we both burst out into laughter again as the tension eased between us. I sounded like a child, even to my own ears.
"Get some rest," Craig said thoughtfully. "You're going to need it."
I nodded as I leaned back and closed my eyes, glad that Craig and I had cleared the air. Maybe now we could be friends.
***
I must have fallen asleep, but I woke when the bus pulled to a stop. "Where are we?" I asked Craig, who was still sitting beside me.
He yawned. "Hey, Mack! Where are we?"
A big burly man with muscles upon muscles, who sat in the driver's seat turned around. "We're in Chattanooga. We're stopping to get something to eat."
Craig nodded as he stood and stretched. "The first leg of the tour is in Raleigh, North Carolina tomorrow, so we need to keep moving. We don't have much farther to go, though."
"I thought it might be good for everyone to get off and get something to eat. Stretch your legs," Mack said as he stood up and stretched his back.
I looked out the window and we had stopped at a little diner. My eyes scanned the bus for Greer. She was asleep in a seat a few rows back. I walked back there and shook her gently. "Greer, wake up."
She stirred, and then woke. "Are we there yet?"
I shook my head. "No. Not yet. We're stopping to get something to eat."
She nodded, and then rose from her seat. We walked out together, and, soon, we were all seated in a whole section of the diner, chatting animatedly. It was almost as if we were a family already. I finished early, so I decided to go back onto the bus. My guitar was sitting close so I picked it up and began playing around, writing a new song.
The memory of the candlelit night I spent with Logan making love on the living room floor, came to mind. I fished around in my purse for a notebook and a pen, and then started jotting down lyrics. Then, I picked up my guitar and started playing around with a tune to go with the lyrics. I made it a slow love song. As I plucked the strings and sang along, it soon materialized into the start of a new song.
"That's nice," Noah said as he sat down across the aisle from me. "What's it called?"
I shrugged. "Candlelight. I just started playing around with it."
"Be right back," he said, and then disappeared toward the back of the bus. A few minutes later, he came back with his guitar in hand. "Mind if I play along?"
I shrugged. "Sure. You mind helping me with the bridge?"
He smiled as he strummed his guitar. "I'd be glad to." Then, he nodded toward my guitar. "Play me what you have so far."
I shrugged. "Now, keep in mind that I just started writing it."
He smiled as he pointed to my guitar. "Just play."
I laughed. "Yes, sir."
He gave me a mock dirty look, but I ignored it and started playing.
"That's good, but how about this?" Noah strummed his guitar, picking up the melody with ease. "Maybe something like this for the bridge?" He played, and it fit seamlessly right into the song. "What do you have for the chorus?"
"What do you think about this?" I asked as I sang and played.
We continued working together, and, soon, the rest of the band began to trickle back into the bus. When they saw what we were doing, they all grabbed their guitars and started playing along softly.
When Greer came onto the bus with Brett, she sat down a few seats ahead and turned around to listen. Brett picked up his guitar and joined in. Soon, we were all working on the song.
"I like that song, but instead of going down on the chorus, how about going up? Like this " Brett sang a bit of the song, picking it up easily.
I nodded. "I like that." I thought for a moment and then added, "Brett, you have a good voice. You should sing backup on the chorus."
"You think?" he asked, smiling, as I nodded.
We were working on the song so intently that we hardly noticed when the bus started moving again. Before long, we finished it.
"Okay. Let's play it from the top and see what we've got," Noah said, and then Wyatt counted it off with his drumsticks on the back of a seat. When we finished, everyone cheered.
"If we keep this up, we'll have a whole new album before the tour's over!" Noah said as he strummed his guitar.
I nodded. "Thanks, Noah. I couldn't have done it without you."
He smirked, as his bright green eyes lit up. "Oh, sure you could have! But it was more fun writing it together," he said conspiratorially.
I laughed. For some reason, I loved being around Noah. He was like the big brother that I never had.
After a bit, we all fell away to the various parts of the bus, playing our guitars incoherently on bits and pieces. Brett showed off with a rift as Greer watched, smiling. I shrugged to myself. After all, she could do worse. But he came off as a player and I didn't want her to get hurt.